1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle side structure around a front end portion of a rocker.
2. Description of Related Art
In the case where a vehicle undergoes a frontal collision (so-called a small overlap collision) with a collision body in a region outside a front side member in a vehicle width direction, a front wheel that has moved rearward in the vehicle front-rear direction hits a front pillar and a front end portion of a rocker, so the front pillar is about to collapse rearward in the vehicle front-rear direction.
In contrast, with a lateral vehicle body structure for a vehicle described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-001226 (JP-2013-001226 A), a first reinforcement member (a gusset) is provided inside a lower end portion of a front pillar. Therefore, the front pillar is restrained from collapsing at the time of a small overlap collision. Incidentally, related vehicle side structures are described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-342869 (JP-11-342869 A) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-059218 (JP-10-059218 A).
However, with the aforementioned lateral vehicle body structure for the vehicle, when the front pillar collapses rearward in the vehicle front-rear direction, a moment is generated in the first reinforcement member, and a downward load with respect to the vehicle is input to a rocker from a lower end portion at a rear end portion of the first reinforcement member. Therefore, the load input from the first reinforcement member to the rocker concentrates, and the rocker may bend (the cross-section thereof may collapse).